Register: All School Leaders Meeting November 3

CSI will be hosting an in-person All School Leaders Meeting on Friday, November 3 at the Lowry Conference Center in Denver. This full day meeting will include multiple breakout strands, and the agenda will be shared soon. Coffee and lunch will be provided. Please register by Friday, October 13.

RSVP: Fall 2023 Regional Leadership Lunches 

New this year, CSI will be offering Regional Leadership Lunches for CSI school leaders to connect with one another and CSI Leadership to discuss pertinent topics, including school highlights and problems of practice, etc. Lunches will be held in each region twice a year: once in the fall and once in the spring. 

Each lunch will take place from 11:00am-1:00pm unless otherwise noted. Locations have been finalized and are below:

• 9/22: The Ale House, 2531 N 12th St, Grand Junction
• 10/3: Hacienda Colorado, 4100 E Mexico Ave, Denver 
• 10/4: Comida at Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St Unit 140, Aurora (12pm-2pm) 
• 10/13: Academy of Arts & Knowledge, Fort Collins
• 10/20: Colorado Springs Charter Academy, Colorado Springs

Please RSVP by September 8.

Save the Dates: 2023-24 School Leaders Calls

CSI will be offering School Leaders Calls to provide updates in months that in-person events do not take place. CSI has scheduled virtual School Leaders Calls on: 

• August 17 | 1:00pm-2:00pm View recording and slides
• October 12 | 1:00pm-2:00pm 
• April 11 | 1:00pm-2:00pm 
• May 9 | 1:00pm-2:00pm 

These calls will be used to share timely updates regarding various program areas. CSI school leaders (or another school representative if the school leader is unavailable) are strongly encouraged to attend.  

Zoom Information

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88290765257

Meeting ID: 882 9076 5257

Passcode: 329845

One tap mobile

+17193594580,,88290765257# US

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Note that while CSI Board Meetings are being planned as in-person, due to space constraints, guests will be asked to continue to join virtually for the time being.

If you have questions, please contact Amanda Oberg.

2022-2023 State Data Released  

All of the state assessment and accountability data for the 2022-2023 school year has been released by CDE. We have made this data available to schools in their Google Drive folders. This data includes achievement and growth data for the CMAS and PSAT/SAT assessments, ACCESS growth data, individual student growth reports for CMAS, and matriculation rate data. Please reach out to Ryan Marks (ryanmarks@csi.state.co.us) with any questions about the data or any issues accessing your Google folder. 

CDE has also released the preliminary School Performance Frameworks (SPF) and those have also been shared with schools. The SPF is also available in the Google folder. 

If you’d like to access the CDE created supports that visualize the state assessment and accountability data, please visit the school/district data dashboard which shows your data across the SPF indicators. CDE has also developed the state data explorer tool which is similar to the dashboard but has some more sophisticated visuals.   



CSI is happy to provide support to school leaders and school board in understanding their state assessment and accountability data. Please reach out to Ryan Marks (ryanmarks@csi.state.co.us) or Collin Phillips (collinphillips@csi.state.co.us) with any questions or requests for training or support.

Open Data Collections

Free & Reduced Lunch Eligibility 

Collecting FRL eligibility (and entering the data in your SIS) for all students should be done at all schools throughout the school year regardless of lunch participation because of impacts to funding and accountability. Consult the FRL webpage for more information. 

State statute (Section 22-54-112(4), C.R.S.) requires every school to include the federal Application for Free and Reduced-Price Meals or the state Family Economic Data Survey form in its registration materials (or directions on how to access electronic forms).The materials shall include an explanation that these documents will be used to determine whether the school is eligible for at-risk funding on behalf of the pupil and, by filling out the form, the parent is ensuring the district or school will receive the at-risk funding to which it is entitled, based on the population of at-risk pupils served by the district. 

State FEDS forms and associated instructions for school year 23-24 are now available on the CSI FRL webpage. Forms must be signed between July 1 and count day for a valid eligibility status in the October Count collection. 

Schools must retain all documentation evidencing free and reduced lunch statuses reported in the October Count collection until the state has completed the At-Risk Count audits. Types of documentation to retain and possibly submit at the time of audit is described in the CDE At-Risk Audit Guide. Documentation evidencing carryover status from a prior year should also be retained until audit of the following year is complete.   

23-24 October Count 

All submissions and audit related recorded trainings and resources have been posted to the CSI October Count webpage.  

• The official count day is Monday, October 2, 2023. 
• Initial file submissions are due to CSI by September 6. 
• Alternative count day (and count window date) requests are due by September 7.  
• The 11-day official count window starts on September 25 and ends on October 9. 
• Schools will be required to submit an 11-day attendance report for the audit. It’s good practice to double check that the data is accurate during that time period and be sure to double check your report before submitting it to see if any attendance is missing. 
• Schools may also want to consider back up methods of recording attendance during the count window in order to have adequate proof for the audit. 
• Schools should plan well in advance to make full use of the multiple validation tools and checklists that CSI provides in order to ensure the highest level of data accuracy. 
• See the CSI October Count Audit Handbook for dates to submit student schedules, attendance reports and other audit related supporting documentation. 

23-24 Gender Category Update 

CDE expanded the Gender category field to include a third “Nonbinary” option for both SASID identifiers and state reporting collections. This change began on July 1, 2023. SIS vendors are expected to update applicable fields to accommodate this new option. CDE has provided a one-page resource on the update. 

23-24 Human Resources and December Count Collections

Resources have been posted for the HR collection to the Human Resources webpage and those for DC will be posted by mid-October to the December Count webpage.  

• Initial submission files for HR are due September 21 
• Initial submission files for DC are due November 7 

Please send questions about any of these collections to Submissions_CSI@csi.state.co.us 

FY2022-23 Year End

Below are the deadlines for FY22-23 year-end items and a note/reminder about single audits: 

• September 29, 2023 (30th falls on a Saturday this year):  
• Data pipeline file due. **Use the Sample Master Crosswalk to report the school's financial data. The form can be found by clicking the Sample Master Crosswalk link provided here.  
• Draft audit due 
• New Schools: Audit exemption request due. **This deadline is for submitting to CSI and to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA). Submitting to the OSA is your responsibility. OSA Portal: (OSA: Local Government Portal (co.gov) 
• October 16, 2023 (15th falls on a Sunday this year): 
• Final Audit Due 
• Accreditation report due. **Assurances for Financial Accreditation | CDE (state.co.us)

*New Schools that received Federal/State grants from CDE through CSI, but did not receive PPR, must file an audit exemption for expenditures or revenues less than $750,000. If either revenues or expenditures exceed $750,000, the school would need to complete an audit. The new school must also submit the data pipeline file and the Assurances for Financial Accreditation report by the due dates noted above*. 

Single Audits are required when federal grant expenditures in a year exceed 750K. Federal food service revenue should be added to your federal grant expenditures amount to determine if the 750K Single Audit threshold is met. For Single Audits with a fiscal year end of June 30, 2023, they will be considered on time if they are submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse within 9 months after fiscal year end. Please send CSI a copy of your single audit if you are required to file one as we must file with CDE.   

Access CSI Grant & Funding Opportunities

CSI has created a running document to capture all current CSI grant and funding opportunities in one place. Grants and finance contacts will still receive email communication for new grant opportunities. Access current CSI grant and funding opportunities and feel free to bookmark this page as it will continue to be updated throughout the year. 

Contact legalandpolicy_csi@csi.state.co.us with any questions. 

2023-24 Organizational Submissions and Audits

The 2023-24 Organizational Submissions and Audits Process is well underway. In August, we collected the following: 

• August 1: Special Education MOU, Assurance of Compliance, Mental Health Program Plan
• August 15: Proof of Insurance, FRL, Food and Transportation Survey
• August 30: Employee Handbook, Parent/Student Handbook

This month, we will audit school websites to ensure the following items are posted: 

• Assessment Calendar 
• Board Policies (Attendance, Enrollment, Grievance, Suspension/Expulsion and Student Fees) 

Additionally, School Emergency Response Plans should be submitted via the Google Classroom on or before October 1. 

New and Revised CSI Board Policies

At the board meeting on August 22, the CSI Board approved a new Access to Medically Necessary Treatment at School policy and approved revisions to the Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity, Medication Administration and Students with Food Allergies policies. Additional guidance for schools regarding the Access to Medically Necessary Treatment policy and Medication Administration policy is forthcoming.  

New! Guidance on Student Fees

Most CSI schools charge fees to families for classroom supplies and materials and for participation in school-sponsored activities and programs outside of the core academic program. These fees are permissible if administered in accordance with applicable laws and CSI’s Student Fees Policy. The policy requires that any school charging student fees adopt a fee policy and schedule. Fees collected must be used for the purposes set forth in the fee schedule. Our recently released Student Fees FAQ provides brief answers to common questions regarding student fees. 

Survey Regarding Title IX Policy Development and Compliance 

On August 14, 2020, new regulations implementing Title IX went into effect, defining sexual harassment and setting forth requirements for preventing and responding to sexual harassment. The regulations diverged significantly from previous guidance on the topic issued by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and necessitated a response by public institutions and schools. Helpful resources can be found on CSI's Title IX Resource Page.

The ED is expected to release new regulations implementing Title IX this Fall. In anticipation for the release, CSI is conducting a survey to assess the current state of Title IX policy development and compliance across the portfolio. CSI will use this information to help determine where gaps might exist and how we can best support schools when the new regulations are released. Please complete the Title IX Survey on or before September 29, 2023. 

Deadlines & Trainings 

The CSI School Programs Team communicates directly with your staff members regarding deadlines and training opportunities. The following charts are intended to provide you an overview of the activities in which your staff members are engaged. 

Deadlines

Trainings

English Language Development

• Schools must ensure that all students who enroll complete a Home Language Survey (HLS). 
• Schools have 30 days before October 2nd to review the HLS and screen students using the WIDA Screener. The deadline is 14 days after October 2. 
• English Learner coding must be updated by October 2. This has funding and accountability implications! 

CSI’s Standardized Identification Process for Multilingual Learners

Contact Rachel Franks with questions. 

Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) 

Beginning 2023-2024 school year, schools will need to sign an assurance of their understanding of ACP & uphold the necessary requirements, which include having one or more ACP-trained staff members.  

• State ACP Website 
• CSI ACP Resources
• August 10, 2023 Training

READ Act K-3 Principal & Administrator Required Training  

To qualify for READ Act per pupil funding for the 2024-25 school year, principals and administrators must complete the required training by August 1, 2024.  

Learn more and register for free, online training 

2023 Superintendents Letter from Office of School Safety

View Colorado Office of School Safety's 2023 annual letter that outlines training opportunities, resources, and announcements for the new school year.

Teachers Can Apply for Up To $800 in Classroom Supplies

CDE is collaborating with Donors Choose, a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit, to empower educators to obtain the classroom supplies they may need to support their students’ academic growth. Each Colorado public school teacher can receive up to $1,000 in project funding, approximately $800 in supplies and $200 in fees, shipping and other costs, from CDE, as long as funding lasts.

Teachers can visit the DonorsChoose Colorado page and submit a request. 

District leaders and principals who want to promote and track funded projects can sign up for the free DonorsChoose District Partnership Program.

CDE created a communications toolkit for districts to use to share information about the DonorsChoose program.

Additional information on this program and how it ties into ESSER funding can be found on the CDE website.